California Olive Oil |
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Volume 2 Issue 6 |
June 1999 |
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B.R. Cohn Winery
Fetes Olive Oil Festival
Glen Ellen - On
May 15 olive oil producers met a crowd of enthusiasts eager to taste this season's oils.
The festival was organized by COOC board member Greg Reisinger at the B.R.Cohn Winery.  Lila Jaeger About 15 producers laid out their wares in a grassy field under a canopy of old growth Picholine olive trees. Oil was available for tasting and purchase. The day was punctuated by cooking and olive pressing demonstrations.  Ridgely Evers of Da Vero The Ferrari of Home Made Olive Presses by John Deane If you have a grove of olive trees or just
a few along your driveway, you probably have wondered how difficult it would be to make
your own olive oil. You could buy a full production press which usually start in the
$10,000 range or you could make your own. A U.C. Davis flyer describes the building of a
press from a bumper jack, rope and plywood. The olives are boiled in lye, left to sit,
pressed, boiled, etc. Not a good way to make extra virgin olive oil. by G. Steven Sibbett, University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor,
Tulare County In response to last fall's finds of Olive Fruit Fly (OLFF) in the Los Angeles Basin, the olive producing counties in the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer's Offices will be initiating a trapping program. Here in Tulare County, where we have half of the state's 35,000 acres, we will be placing and monitoring approximately 1,000 traps. While the majority of these traps will be placed in commercial orchards to confirm that we do not have OLFF in our production areas, we will also be placing over 150 urban traps. It's these urban areas that represent the greatest risk for the spread of OLFF. It's long been recognized that these types of pests don't spread long distances on their own, but rely on people moving infested products from one area to another. |
Questions and
Comments from the Internet
Michael asks:
We are wondering if you can
clear up something for us.What is better for you nutritionally olive oil or peanut oil?
OOS replies:
Peanut and olive oil both are high in
monounsaturated fats and in diet studies are equal with regard to lowering cholesterol and
triglycerides when compared to a "standard American diet". The health effects of
all the other thousands of components in these oils is not well understood. Olive oil is
"natural" in that it is one of the few plant oils which is edible as pressed
from the plant. Peanut oil must be chemically processed. This may remove healthful
anti-oxidants. I would personally prefer olive oil because it has a flavor; most
peanut oil has had all flavors removed. As a doctor I would have to tell you that
there is no magic oil or food which will make you healthy, its a combination of sensible
and moderate eating. The most important part of the Mediterranean diet is not the
olive oil but the lack of meat and the abundance of fruits, vegetables and fiber.
Nancy asks:
I am an editorial researcher with Rodale Books.
We also publish Prevention and Men's Health magazines. Is olive oil rich in
chlorophyll--how much does it have and compared to what is it "rich" in
chlorophyll? Is chlorophyll a natural preservative?
OOS
replies:
Chlorophyll is one of the main pigments in olive
oil. the chlorophyll content decreases as the fruit matures so olives picked green produce
a greener oil with a "grassy" flavor. According to Apostolos Kirisakis, one of
the premiere researchers on olive oil components, fresh olive oil contains between 1 to 10
parts per million. Miniscule compared to a portion of spinach. The olive cultivar,
weather, pressing method, etc. also determine chlorophyll content. Olives are invariably
pressed with some leaves still present so some of the chlorophyll comes from that source.
Some producers have been know to deliberately allow leaves in the mill to increase the
"grassiness" of the oil. In the light, chlorophyll will promote formation of
oxygen radicals and speed up oxidation but in the dark chlorophyll acts as an antioxidant.
In current physiological studies, chlorophyll is broken down in the body and has no effect
as an oxidant or antioxidant.
John Deane M.D. Events: United States 1999Aspen Food & Wine Classic- Jun 11 - Jun 13, 1999 - contact Carissa in Aspen, CO 212-382-5600 for tickets Jackson Hole Food & Wine Fest - June 25 Jackson Hole, WY ; contact Dina Misheve, 307-733-3050, ext. 107 Grand Aioli Festival August 14 Healdsburg, CA 707-756-1434 sonprov@metro.net International June Expoliva '99 -IX Simposium Científico-Técnico, Jaén, June 18-19 1999 Olive Oil International Days - Thursday June 17, 1999 Paris - Supported by the Ministry of
Agriculture. It is a great opportunity to represent your country and all your products to
a selected worldwide buyers. For more information contact Didier l'HOPITAULT July Australian Olive Association - Third National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show Saturday July 3, 1999 The Australian Olive Association announces its Third National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show and invites entries from Australian extra virgin olive oil producers. Entries close on 25 June and the awards will be announced at the AOA Annual Conference in August. For entry form visit: http://www.australianolives.com.au August Australian Olive Association 1999 Annual Conference and AGM Friday August 27, 1999 The Australian Olive Association 1999 National Conference and AGM will be hosted by the Peel Olive Association at Mandurah, Western Australia. To register your interest in attending, presenting a paper, exhibiting or sponsorship or for more information, please contact the conference coordinator, Shirley Goode (tel: (08) 9535 2876; fax: (08) 9582 7664)Oleum - Jaen, Spain October 23rd World Congress & Exhibition of the International Society for Fat Research, Oct. 3-7, 1999, Brighton Centre, Brighton, England, United Kingdom. Information: Meetings and Exhibits Department, ISF, P.O. Box 3489, Champaign, IL 61826-3489 (phone: 217-359-2344; fax: 217-351-8091).
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